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The Authority of Tenderness: Dignity and the True Self in Psychoanalysis

Author(s) : Paul Williams

Reviews and Endorsements

"In the trilogy that concludes with The Authority of Tenderness, Paul Williams proves himself a fearless explorer of some of the darkest reaches of the human psyche." - JM Coetzee

"This third book of Paul Williams' trilogy-a book at once fiction, nonfiction and memoir-is like no other work I have ever read. Williams' use of language unobtrusively achieves the music of poetry and the enlightened absurdity of Beckett. Even in the most dark, most disturbing parts of this book, there lives a thread of hope that is safeguarded by the potential of the human spirit for 'the authority of tenderness'. This book offers an experience in reading not to be missed." - Thomas Ogden

"This final volume in the trilogy by Paul Williams is a searing journey into the heart of darkness. As a psychoanalyst who has treated disturbed patients throughout his career, Williams shares his unique and brilliant way of being with these individuals that helps them to live with themselves and with others. His creative use of the concept of tenderness is novel and original in this context. I highly recommend this gem of a book for all psychoanalysts and psychotherapists of patients who struggle to emerge from the darkness." - Glen O. Gabbard, MD.

"Each sentence of this book is constructed with exceptional depth and acuity. Traumatized individuals bear the unbearable, the authentic self exposed to unthinkable anxiety. Paul Williams reflects on his experience and that as a psychoanalyst of severely traumatized patients. His path to the patient's authentic self through the authority exercised by the clinician's tenderness is profoundly moving, of great clinical value not only to psychoanalysts but to all individuals who wonder about the problematic nature of human existence." - Franco De Masi

"Donald Winnicott wrote of a state of inward being that requires the utmost privacy. Intrusions into this most intimate of places can result in a violent destruction of personality. The result can be a total catastrophe. This is surely among the most important themes in psychoanalysis. Paul Williams, writing out of personal experience as well as out of a long-time experience as a psychoanalyst, considers what Yeats called 'the deep heart's core' with a sonority and depth of feeling that puts me in mind of masterly music making." - Eric Rhode